Gunmen shot dead a respected professor of medicine in Iraq on Saturday, the latest victim of postwar violence that has forced thousands of professionals to flee the country. Hassan al-Rubaiei, 45, was driving along the western bank of the Tigris when gunmen pulled alongside and sprayed his car with automatic gunfire. His wife was in the passenger seat and escaped unhurt. "He died from two bullets to the head," Dr Saeed Hassan of the Yarmouk hospital said. Police had earlier identified Rubaiei as the dean of the school of dentistry, but his colleagues said he was a member of the faculty of medicine. He had been instrumental in maintaining academic standards, they said.